So the Future Remembers the Past:
Jim Jacumin and the Trail of Faith

If you ever doubt that faith can move mountains, consider Jim Jacumin. He oversaw the shifting of over 40,000 cubic yards of dirt to create a replica of an Alpine mountain trail in rural North Carolina. And he did it in answer to a spiritual vision calling on him to honor his ancestors.

The 'mountain' is part of The Trail of Faith, an open-air exhibit tracing the history of the Waldensians, the earliest know Evangelical faith. Records about the group which lived in the rocky, isolated valleys of the Cottian Alps of Italy date back to the 12th Century. Unfortunately, many of those records deal with the persecution they endured because of their belief that laymen should have free access to read and interpret the Bible. They were tortured, executed and exiled for nearly six centuries. Even after the physical ordeals largely ended, their religious and civil rights continued to be denied.

The persecutions finally ended in the mid-1800's, but prosperity brought its own problems. The tiny villages in the hardscrabble valleys could not support the growing population. Many of the worshippers decided to move their faith and way of life to other places. The foothills of North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains sounded ideal. In 1893, the first handful of men, women and children arrived in Valdese, NC.

Reality did not give the settlers the fertile fields where they could plant crops and vineyards, however. They soon abandoned farming to open a sawmill and successful textile mills and commercial bakery which continue to flourish.

While they embraced America as their new home, the emigrants never forgot their families still in Europe. Groups from North Carolina and other places from the Waldensian exodus returned periodically to the Alps to visit cousins and grandparents. It was on one of those visits that Jim Jacumin first conceived of the Trail of Faith.

He was in a cave, one of the hiding places his ancestors used as places of worship, when he had a vision. He saw a recreation of the cave and other important buildings and elements of the Waldensian saga in Valdese. It was something that would allow his children, grandchildren and future generations as well as other Christians and visitors to know and appreciate the dedication of the Waldensians to their beliefs.

"I see this as a burden placed on my shoulders by God. I can't let him down," Jacumen says of his project. Far from being cowed by the obligation, however, Jacumin approaches it with a cheerful confidence that he's doing what he should be and is enjoying every minute of it.

That's not to say that turning his act of faith into reality was easy. A lot of people thought the whole idea was eccentric, at best. There's already an outdoor drama about the Waldensians, "From This Day Forward," which runs every summer in Valdese. The town has a museum which holds many artifacts and displays about the history of the Waldensians, and the town library has stained glass murals depicting people in traditional garb. What else did they need?

Jacumin persisted, forming a committee to help develop and fund the project and looking for the right location.

He decided that the ideal plot of land was a tract adjacent to the amphitheater where the drama is produced. It was owned by the grandson of one of the original settlers, but it had been in the family from the beginning, and he wasn't interested in selling it. Jacumin persisted, visiting the man and his family every few months for a year. Everyone told him he was wasting his time and should look for another piece of land. As Jacumin, a slight man with an easy smile, tells the story, "I knew this was where it should be. I finally asked the Gideons to pray for this. I asked everybody I met to pray for this, and went to back one more time."

Again, the man said there was no way he would sell the land. Instead, he would donate it outright. Jacumin says he cried then, certain that he was answering a divine obligation.

Throughout the project, Jacumin says he felt guided by a higher presence. Each step of he way, he's seen signs that assure him he's doing the right thing and encourage him to continue. For example, the plans for the Trail called for digging down into the donated field to put the buildings below street level. That creates the impression of being in a mountain valley. At the same time, he wanted to build up the back side of the area to create his "mountain" hillside where people could experience a few steps of the long walk into exile from Italy to Switzerland that the Waldensians endured.

"We needed 40,000 cubic feet of dirt to create the hillside. When we dug out the land, we found we needed to take out exactly 40,000 cubic feet of dirt." Long-range development of the site include converting an unused school building into a hotel and conference center. Jacumin points out that the building has 29 rooms. There were 29 members of the original group of settlers to Valdese. While some people might consider those mere coincidences, Jacumin thinks they are messages. "When those things keep happening, you know it's no accident."

The Trail of Faith has 15 exhibits. The original school, sawmill, communal oven, and one of the first farmhouses in Valdese were moved to the Trail. The reproductions of things in Italy are painstakingly exact. Precise measurements were taken, photos were enlarged, and stonemasons and bricklayers were supervised to make sure that the newly-constructed buildings were so exact that a visitor from Italy would think he was back at home.

There is the Barbi College, a small, house-like building where the practitioners memorized the scriptures so they could travel and preach without carrying Bibles. One of the most notable features of the makeshift seminary are the tiny slits of windows which let inhabitants watch for intruders and danger.

The College is humble enough, but other 'houses' of worship weren't even that grand. The Waldensians often worshipped in caves, where they couldn't be seen or heard from outside and where they could hide from their enemies. In Valdese, the cave was dug into the side of the hill. One of the members of Jacumin's committee, John Bleynat, designed and built the interior, using chicken wire and sprayed concrete to simulate the natural stone walls. In keeping with the authenticity, the main entrance is a large hole down at floor level. A more conventional entrance is available, although carefully camoflaged. There is also a copy of a monument marking the spot where the men in their small army took an oath to defend each other to the death rather than compromise their faith. They chanted scripture as they went into battle.

One story goes that the Waldensian soldiers were once chased to the top of a mountain. Rather than engage them in hand-to-hand combat, their pursuers decided to starve them out in the snow. The Waldensians started digging holes in the snow for crude shelters, only to discover they were digging into a potato patch. A few days later, an unusually dense fog rolled in and allowed them to escape.

Some historians would say that was a mere coincidence. When Jim Jacumin hears that, he just smiles. He knows better.
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